Zephyr Teachout Uses New York Times' Nonendorsement To Attack Cuomo
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- It's the best endorsement she'll never get.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout on Wednesday called The New York Times' decision not to endorse a candidate in the party's Sept. 9 primary "a really powerful rebuke to (Gov.) Andrew Cuomo's four years in office."
"What I read was a signal to voters to pay attention to my campaign, and they have been paying attention," Teachout told reporters, including WCBS 880's Paul Murnane. "All we need is 350,000 votes, and I will be the next governor of the state of New York."
Zephyr Teachout Uses New York Times Nonendorsement To Attack Cuomo
The Fordham law professor launched her "Whistleblower Tour" on Wednesday to denounce what she describes as the culture of corruption in Albany, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported. Teachout held the event in front of the One57 condominium building on West 57th Street. She said that within days of Extell, the building's developer, donating $100,000 to Cuomo's campaign, the governor signed into law legislation that included a $35 million tax break for the company.
"It is a monument to the corruption of Andrew Cuomo's Albany," Teachout said.
The Times reserved special criticism for Cuomo on the issue of ethics reform, accusing him of failing to push for campaign finance reform and mishandling the Moreland Commission that was set up to investigate corruption.
Zephyr Teachout Uses New York Times Nonendorsement To Attack Cuomo
Cuomo has been dogged by questions about his handling of the anti-corruption panel he created last year, and dismantled this spring, after the Times reported that a top aide pressured the commission not to investigate groups with ties to the governor.
"I can't look into his heart, but he pulled the plug on the Moreland Commission when it got too close to his own donors and business associates," Teachout said.
Cuomo has insisted his office did not interfere with the panel's work.
The newspaper stopped short of endorsing Teachout, though it did call her "a national expert on political corruption and an advocate of precisely the kind of transparency and political reform that Albany needs."
The Times declined to endorse Teachout on the grounds that "she has not shown the breadth of interests and experience needed to govern a big and diverse state."
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